


Shape

by chaeternum



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Jaemin is working in MI5, Jeno is... the creature of crazy doctor, M/M, Smoking, Time Travel, chapters are small but i hope you won't mind, i'm trying to jokes but my head was under bad english lessons, kind of lol, string theory, time loops, very obvious hint to sex but no smut sorry, well not really hint but yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26717266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaeternum/pseuds/chaeternum
Summary: Jeno is a walking weapon of mass destruction. Jaemin is the only one he's willing to talk to. Why?
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	1. first dimensional

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Королевство кривых зеркал: Shape!](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/693532) by aeternum. 



> hi! i will be very happy if you read it and tell me how it was. sorry for all mistakes and wrongs and etc. I'm learning English and trying my best at it.
> 
> also this work wrote two years ago for another OTP of mine and if you have read the wrong name tell me pls. 
> 
> find me here:
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/neonocy)
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/themotherofcat)

Glasses. Cigarette in the mouth. Message. 

_“We found him, Dr. Na”_

Jaemin choked on coffee, spat it on the perfect white desk in front of him, and even on his glasses, which he carefully wipes on the run to the car. He jumps inside, wishing it would have a real unbelievable mod and he would fly to the place, not just drive. The road to his work usually spent twelve minutes and thirty seconds, but in this special moment, he arrives in eight minutes and two seconds, since he saves time on stoplights, skipping on the yellow and, sometimes, nearly lit red. It was worth it, his life was in danger, but it was worth it. Or he thought so. 

“Where it is?!” Na snatches a white robe from the hands of an assistant, putting it on and looking into all the doors of the laboratory.

“Room 3B” the assistant said, and leave with cautiously eyes.

Jaemin has worked for a long time in the secret department of MI5. They dealt with supernatural beings and entities and also works with experimental samples of creatures from some mad scientists. Which was and that creature, whose they tried to found almost for three years now. They hunted and tried to catch it for so long.

The name of the creature is _Shape._ Some years ago it was made by crazy scientist Strange, whos born a lot of monsters, but almost all of them were caught by MI5 or other intelligence services. But Shape… Shape was the smartest among all. 

“He showed up on his own” Dr. Mark Lee straightens his robe and swallows heavily.

“He?” wonders Jaemin and stopped. Mark nods gently.

“He came to Hyuck’s home”

“And Donghyuck didn’t kill him?” Jaemin wonder harder. 

Lee Donghyuck had been searching for Shape for his entire short career, and that man was really on the verge of shooting the creature as soon as he could figure out where it was.

“I don’t know. Hyuck takes a rest after meeting him, and his eyes… it was misty-eyed and all… so, yeah ”, Mark scratches the back of his head.

“So, why _he_ surrendered?”

“He said the time has come”. Mark looks at Jaemin in dismay and swallows hard. “He right behind that door, did you know?”

Jaemin nods and points out on the next door. In that room, they can observe the beast without interaction. However, Jaemin hardly can see how the monster from Strange’s lab can be a human. More than that how critter identification themselves as a man. He knows that all _creatures_ were people, but he also remembers an amphibian man who was more like a rabbit. And he remembers Clayknead, who was a huge bunch of mud.

Mark opens the door for Jaemin. Inside is a huge window that leads to a bigger room look more like a jail cell - although, in fact, it is - with a bed, white sheet make it almost invisible in light that reflects off it, blinding. The washbasin and toilet are there too. In the middle of the room are a black metal desk and two chairs. One is empty, on another one's sitting… _a human_.

Renjun Huang holds a hand for a handshake with Jaemin, strong, warning shake and then he offers him a cigarette. Jaemin doesn’t refuse. Mark Lee bites lips nervously as he examines the beast.

“How’s your colleague?” Jaemin asks, Renjun just shrug. “What happened?”

“Hyuck didn’t explain anything, he didn’t even bring it in handcuffs... he just- walked alongside, as if showing the way”, Huang blinking at the creature. “It… said nothing. Even their name”.

Jaemin looks up at the man in the room and finds it hard to believe that something is wrong with him. At least now it becomes clear why: it looks like an ordinary person by sight. MI5 search for someone who would look like a monster, someone who would leave traces of themselves like dirt or murders. Shape was an image, it was someone without a past and probably without a future. A bad experiment that was dangerous post hoc, not because it did something bad. All of Strange's creatures were monsters without exception; monsters who would smash the world to smithereens, who may kill because the creator told them so, they have nothing to do with the human emotions that nature gave them from birth, such as sympathy or compassion.

The guy in the chair behind the window glass looked like a _human_. He had melted chocolate eyes, long ash black hair that he combed back, even if it lay in waves, like the surface of the sea. His chest was wide and his arms are strong, which were not hidden by either a dark blue T-shirt or a gray sweatshirt. He looked like a man who came from a run and not a weapon of mass destruction that must either be eliminated or kept in custody.

If they decide to destroy it, that will be murder, which makes Jaemin nervously swallowed. Shape shifts gaze to the window glass and look at him, blinking slowly, as if it can see him, from the prospect of creature it looks like a mirror. Shape’s gaze is a mixture of unreadable emotions: calmness, anticipation, interest, lust, and something else, something on the verge of fear and excitement.

“Fuck”, Renjun swears and puts out his cigarette on the floor, trampling it with the heel of the shoe. “What is it? Do you think it sees us?”

“Seems so”, Mark frowns. Shape smiles affably but keeps gaze on Jaemin, who was expecting an animal grin or something like that, but not an even row of white teeth. 

“What Shape is?” Renjun asked again, grabbing Na by the shoulder. “What’s wrong with it? What Strange do with it, that his creature turned on him?”

Jaemin swallows nervously and also toss the cigarette on the floor, trampling it down, keeping his eyes on the creature. When they found the mad doctor's laboratory, Shape was the only one who remained there: they were waiting for them. His colleagues described it as a beast with green skin, about six feet tall, and with a glowing back. But if this man was Shape, then he looked pretty good. Jaemin would even call him handsome.

It was Shape who called MI5, first, it has tied Strange, second, they escaped, when agents tried to arrest them it stolen their data file too. After this, there were only sketches about Shape, two-dimensional images on paper. So they did not know who it was, but they knew that _it_ could be dangerous to the whole world because Strange created him.

“I will talk to him”, Lee says firmly, aligning his back. “I'll try to find something out of him”.

“It keeps silence” Huang scoffs. “You better to take a couple of tests from it, since they gave himself up”.

“He doesn't give permission. I can’t force him- it. Them. The fuck- who is he? Why he isn't talking?”

“I will talk to it”, Jaemin said. “If it doesn't want to talk, we'll write it off as spoiled material”.

“Is this a joke?” Mark asked. He turns to Jaemin warily, but nothing can be said from Na’s face. “Damn, Jaem, it is a joke, right? We aren’t going to kill him?”

“Kill? _Him_? Maybe it's just a shell and he's not even a human”, Na scoffs and confidently leaves the room, heading to the Shape’s cell.

Mark manages to grab his robe, stopping him, but Jaemin breaks free and opens the door, immediately bumping into Shape's pleased look and smile. Gentle, if it can describe the emotions of a person with an unknown power.

Jaemin boldly lifts his chin and is inspecting the man in front of him when the last one tilts his head slightly to the side and chuckles.

“I’m glad it is the future where you decided to come inside the room” Shape has said and Jaemin is frowning at his words. “Mark is very awkward when he’s worried and he starts to stutter. It's funny, but you can't laugh at it. It would be difficult for me to contain myself. I wonder is it the future where you start blushing when I say you have toothpaste on your right ear?”

Jaemin grabs his right earlobe in confusion and wipes white dry powder off with his fingertips.

“Oh, definitely it”, Shape breaks into a smile, chuckling hollowly.

“What are you?” Jaemin speaks in fright, losing face and feel how fear is rising to his throat.

“Jeno Lee” creature smiles. “But you call me Shape”.


	2. second dimensional

Jeno shifts on his chair and nods at another one opposite him.

“You have a choice between sitting down now or you will stand for another half hour, ask me questions, I will smile, and then your leg will hurt and you will sit down anyway”, Jeno points to the opposite chair. “If you sit down right now you will still ask questions and I will smile, but you will  _ not  _ have leg cramps in the middle of the night”.

Jaemin hesitates. He’s looking at the chair and then at Jeno, but in the end, weighs the man's words and sits down opposite, and that makes Jeno smile with satisfaction.

“A rational decision,” he notes.

“What are you?” Jaemin gets down to business without preluding, but he asks carefully. Jeno scrutinizing his badge, he noticed. Jaemin takes it off and puts it in his pocket.

"Oh, you're pretty moody in this future." Jeno purses his lips in displeasure and looks back at Jaemin’s face, soft smiling again. “I don’t think you want to know my school biography, right?

“Just answer the questions, stop playing,” Jaemin said. He’s no longer annoyed, angry, or scared. While he was studying, he was taught how to communicate with patients and now Jaemin treats Jeno exactly as them, not some unnatural creature.  ~~ The Beast ~~ .

“I'm a fifth-dimensional creature,” Jeno says calmly. “I live outside space and time. I see what happened, what will happen, why it happened, and what other options are or were there. For example, I know that a brick fell on the head of your school friend in the alleyway. You decided to become a doctor because of it since she died in your arms. But if you came three seconds earlier - and you didn't because you decided to go back to the store to buy another pack of snacks - you could see a guy hitting her on the head with this brick and run away. If you knew about it, you would become a police officer and an MI5 agent later. And then you would have chased me all your life as Lee Donghyuck did until I came to him myself”, Jeno smiles sadly. “And now is the time. I'm glad it all happened that way, because…” Shape brings his thick eyebrows together. “This scenario is simpler”.

Jaemin is breathing fast and hard, running his gaze around the guy, feeling a panic attack coming to him. He reproached himself all his life since this day for not being able to help her. They went to the movies, he remembers, bought sweets afterward, and then Jaemin thought he wanted something else too. He clearly remembers hesitation, but still asked his friend to wait for him while he quickly buys another packet of chips. He was eight, he didn’t even think that death exists in the world.

The unconscious child's body, blood, the crowd, and the police.

“There was nothing you could do. Her fate was in death to make you what you became now,” Jeno says, nodding his head sadly as if guessing Jaemin's question from his head. “We have three things in life that are invariable: birth, growing up and death. Wherever you go, whatever choice you make, they will all lead you to it. Sooner or later”.

“She died just because I had to work at MI5?” Jaemin asks guiltily.

Jeno shrugs.

“Not really. She died ‘cause her mother's milk boiled when she had explained to daughter not to approach strangers. She forgot about it. Her daughter never learns”. Jeno purses his lips. “It's… it's all  _ details _ , Jaemin. Fate has thousands of options. I see all of them, but from these thousands, we always choose one. I choose what I like best, only those scenarios that are likely to happen, but I can see all of them at the same time. I see all space and time”.

“So… what you can do with all of it?” Jaemin frowns, moving away from the state of shock and sadness. Move from old, childish fright when he saw his friend and was scared not only because something was wrong with her, but also because he could be punished and couldn't save her.

“Nothing”, Jeno shyly smiles. “I know every detail about everything around. I see how and who will die. I see how to create a weapon that will destroy the entire universe. I just- know everything. Why do you think I'm dangerous? Not because of strength or cruelty, but because of the whole existence.

Jaemin swallows hard. Indeed, if Jeno can see all space and time, then he is a weapon of mass destruction that can  _ create _ these weapons, not be it.

“How could he do this to you?” Jaemin asks, he really sympathizes with him now, the man whose eyes glow with kindness, not mockery, as he thought before.

“Strange tried to make a time machine. He thought I could teleport him” Jeno explains. “I had been kind of TARDIS. Well he’s plan was ruined, I guess”.

The chair creaks on the hard floor. Jeno gets up from his seat and takes off his sweatshirt. Jaemin thinks his eyes are going to fly out of their sockets.

“What are you doing?” he looks around the room worriedly and turns to the mirror.

“I want you to see” he takes off his shirt and throws it on the table, “something”.

His body is perfect: fold on fold, curves, bulges, he looks like the best landscape in the world. Light playing and bouncing off his skin as if it were made of soft chocolate. Shadows curls under his movements as he takes off his pants and left in just his underwear. Jaemin examines him, lost. He was human, _he is_. One of the perfect men, who was created, not born. It makes Jaemin shiver again.

“I like some scenarios of the future” Jeno smiles ambiguously. Jaemin swallows tightly, looking away.

Yes, he thinks _ about it _ . He thought that Jeno’s body is so attractive that he wouldn't mind straddling him. But these are only thoughts when for Jeno it’s one of the scenarios of possible events.

Jeno holds his hands in the groin area and turns his back to Jaemin. Skin there stroked with scars, small lights are almost visible under as if someone was trying to repeat the impulses running through the nervous system. This is the light that his colleagues wrote about.

“This thing is implanted in my nervous system,” Jeno says. “It makes the cells of my body move, it's accelerating, it passes through space and time, but at the same time it remains stable, and I do not dissolve. Then this device reads everything that my human brain cannot accept and reproduces it as if you are dreaming. Billions of dreams at the same time, from the past and the future, and what is happening right now. Everywhere. I see it all at the same time”.

Jaemin get’s up to inspect the entire system: it stretches like a tree all over his back, converges in the neck, disappearing deep under the skin. He reaches out to trace one of the lights, calculate its trajectory, but Jeno turns to look at the door.

“Please, don’t touch me or Renjun will storm there interrupting our conversation,” he said.

“Okay” Jaemin lowers his hand and Jeno turns, putting his pants back on. “Did you come so we could help you get this thing out?”

Jeno chuckles and pulls his shirt back on, straightening his hair.

“No, I came because it’s time. I should…” he swallows tightly, looking at the door, and shakes his head. “Just because it’s the right time to. Of course, I know how everything could go, but I can’t influence events, since it can make everything even worse. You should get it by yourself, Jaemin. I can't say”.

Jaemin notices how Jeno bends five fingers and then Renjun bursts through the door.

“Jaem, we should go,” he said looks at Jeno. “Quickly”.

Na nods glancing warily at Shape, who shrugs.

“Mark should drink less coffee today,” he added when Jaemin was almost gone. “Just- believe me”.

Jaemin nods and closes the door.


	3. third dimensional

“He said he will talk only with you” Mark sets the tray of medical supplies on the table next to Jaemin while the last one examines several tests from another lab through a microscope. Supplies clink and clunk nastily on it. “Shape. He completely refused to let me even touch him. He didn’t give me a blood test or even a smear”. 

Jaemin lifts his head with a sigh and looks at the tray.

“He’s been here for a week and you’re the only one with whom he spoke and, apparently, plans to talk.” Mark pushes the tray towards him and points at it with a glance. “So come on, go for it”.

Jaemin didn't want to go to Jeno because he had the feeling that Jeno saw right through him and, in general, he is. Jeno saw everything that could happen or what had already happened to Jaemin, he saw his life from A to Z, when Jaemin did not see or know anything about him, and it scared him. Of course, he could ask and find out, also Jeno looked like he was happy to answer, but Na as an MI5 employee had not previously conducted interrogations, and now he understands why. The creatures are terrifying with their capabilities. Especially if they look like humans.

He didn't want to see Jeno anymore, he wanted someone else to take care of him and make his verdict, because Na was afraid of this <i> man </i>. But Mark looks at him pleadingly, so he nods in agreement and takes the tray.

“I hate taking tests,” he hisses, Mark chuckles.

“Who loves”, he answers and they went to another building. "I don't know what special in you for him, but he really wants to see you. He asking about you every time he has a chance too. If I didn't know he is just a creature chimera from the lab I would definitely thought he fallen in love with you at first seeing".

"How bizarre" Jaemin says. "But we talked only once and he just nice and kind guy as I can see".

"Debates", Mark chuckles again. "He threatened to stab me in the eyes if I touch him even once".

"Well, he doesn't like you then".

"I was nice to him all the time!"

"Not as much as I am, as you can see".

Mark leaves him with a healing smile. If it ever works for him. The syringe taps unpleasantly on the iron of the tray as Na crosses the lab grounds to this symphony. The guard at Jeno's cell stops him, checks his badge, and only then lets him inside.

“Dr. Na,” Jeno doesn't smile as he does at their first meet, on the contrary, he looks very angry. “You haven't come to me for a week. Of all the possible scenarios, you chose this one!”

Jaemin puts the tray down on the table and starts sorting out the tools on it.

“I was busy,” he says calmly and opens the antiseptic bottle.

“I know you weren't,” Jeno grumbles. He sits down in his chair, examining the doctor closely.

“Then you know why I didn't come.” Na glares at him, who snorts, turning away.

“I don’t read minds. I can only see what choice you can make. What action to take”, Jeno says quietly. “And I saw every time you could come, but choose didn't. It's hurt, unpleasant, and offensive”.

“ I don't have to explain myself ,” Jaemin calmly said, as opposed to the creature’s expression, and puts cotton swabs and a few bags in front of him. “Dry your hands with antiseptic, take samples from your ears, nose, and mouth”.

“Okay,” Jeno nods resignedly, obeying Na's orders. “You forgot to tell Mark and he got sick”.

Jaemin freezes as he puts the glove on his left hand, remembering his request.

“I forgot,” he honestly admits.

“Because of this Mark was late, created an emergency and a girl was run over in a nearby street,” Jeno says, displeased. “She's all right, by the way”.

“That's what matters,” Jaemin notes and takes the syringe, patiently waiting for Jeno to finish with his nose and mouth, collecting tests from the mucous membranes. “I need to take blood from your arm”.

“It won't help you,” Shape says immediately.

“I still have to,” Na smiles politely. “Roll up your sleeve”.

“Of course,” Jeno tenses when he sees the needle sparkling in Jaemin's hand.

Jaemin asks him to move his hand a little so that the veins expand and he can draw blood with ease. Veins protrude in blue stripes on pale skin like round mountain ranges. Jaemin leans in, picking out where the needle will penetrate and inserting it gently, causing Jeno to hiss under his breath and exhale slowly.

“Mark would have made it hurt more”, he says tightly, Jaemin chuckles.

“Because of this, you refused to speak to him?” Na asks, watching as the blood is drawn inside. _Why do you so honest with me? Why **me?** What's so special? Why you choose me? Is this a joke? _He kept silent in fear to be weak in the eyes of that man.

“No, I just don't want to talk to any of them besides you'' Jeno looks up at him inquiringly, and the warmth in his eyes scorches: Jeno looks at Jaemin so sensitive and attentive as if only one step separates him from getting up and kissing him.

Or it will be Jaemin who will lean over and press his lips to his. Jeno grins as the thought pops into Na's head and he hastily looks back to the needle.

“I've seen worse things, stop blushing,” Shape chuckles as Jaemin applies a sponge to the wound stopping the bleeding. “I know you've been crying over ‘ Me Before You’ ,” Jaemin chuckles with laughter. “And over the book too…”

“Are you a master of intimidation?” Jaemin grins, raising an eyebrow and closing the vial of blood.

“Are you flirting with me?” Jeno purrs, glaring at him and leaning his hand on the table, looking in Jaemin’s shocked eyes as if he’d been caught shoplifting. “Renjun is watching, you better stop”.

Jaemin points his thumb at the mirror behind him and Jeno nods.

“I know Renjun doesn't like me, I see all of his actions, what he plans to do if something goes wrong,” Jeno points to the chair opposite and Jaemin sits down without question. “It's his job, I'm not angry, but the more often you talk to me, the sooner they all stop seeing me as a menace”.

“But you are a menace”,  suavely says Jaemin.

“Am I?” Jeno tilts his head to the side. “Do you consider me as a menace? As a hazard?”

Jaemin thinks for a moment and then confidently decides _“no”_. Despite what power Jeno represents, he looks like he knows how to use and control it. Jaemin has not seen any negative manifestations of his abilities, no one has yet tried to undermine the Earth with the help of ultra-new weapons, which should appear only in the near three hundred years or so.

“I know what I should talk about and what better not. Especially I know with who I can talk”, Jeno leans over. “But I can’t just say everything. You should ask questions”.

“What did you do all this time? In general”, Jaemin immediately asks.

“I made money on bets, gambling, not always well, you know, people are terribly unpredictable,” Jeno says. “I lived in the suburbs, where I’ve not attracted attention. I had a dog, Hades, he's scum, hated him as much as loved, because he was the only one who was always with me, so... And then the time came, I gave him to the neighbor's girl because she is the only one who can take care of him. Hades will die in a few years since once I didn’t have time to get one thing out of his mouth, from which his kidneys would refuse to work around this year”.

“The end of all stories is death,” Jaemin notes.

“Sorry, I forgot it's something important to you,” Jeno says, smiling sadly, “to people”.

“You're human too,” Jaemin remarks.

Jeno chuckles as if he has little faith and looks away.

“ Emotions are foreign to me. I feel everyone in this Universe, everything that they experience, at the same time, for all time. I can turn it off, focus on someone, but when these emotions aren’t mine, I feel uncomfortable”, Jeno remarks. “I can no longer live in the moment like you,  _ people _ . And when I see my future... it’s strange. I’m like a player who goes through a game with codes. Cheater, just it”.

Jaemin chuckles at the comparison and glances at his watch.

“Are all emotions foreign for you?” Jaemin asks.

Jeno shrugs and shakes his head.

“Except for two,” he admits reluctantly.

“Which ones?” Jaemin asks, smiling softly, trying to inspire confidence. “Scientific interest”.

“Affection,” Jeno says, looking him straight in the eye. “And love”.

Jaemin chuckles again, looking around the clock hand, which moves to the next digit.

“I have to go now,” he says. “I'll come tomorrow”.

“Bring me donuts,” Jeno asks cheerfully and to Jaemin's surprise, Jeno doesn't protest when he leaves. “Not those around the corner of the laboratory, there is a scenario that they will not have pink icing. Near your house they cook just great with banana filling, and tomorrow they have a discount”.

<tab> Jaemin laughs cheerfully and nods in agreement.

“Okay, Jeno,” he says, collecting all the samples of tests on a tray. “Will I come tomorrow for sure?”

Jeno freezes for a second with a serious face as he contemplates space and time, then nods.

“Only if the plane does fall on you. But this is unlikely”.

And the plane really doesn't crash.


	4. fourth dimensional

Jaemin brings Jeno soup and, it turns out, his favorite rice cakes as well. He himself realizes the horror food they bring to the guy as a guinea pig. Perhaps nutritious, but absolutely not tasty.

“Is it hard to live with it?” Jaemin asked, hinting at his ability.

“At first yes. I had a headache as if it was about to explode like a nuclear head, and I didn’t know how to control it. Seemed that the whole world was simultaneously talking in my head, like in some stupid show”, Jeno first drinks the whole liquid, interrupting his speech. “But I quickly got used to it. The strangest thing is to see myself... my future”.

“You always knew that we would meet, right?” Jaemin guesses as Jeno nods, wiping his mouth and starting to eat the contents of the soup. “What other options were there?”

“Seductive,” Jeno smiles ambiguously and tosses a boiled carrot into his mouth. “I would love to have appeared much earlier and sometimes it was unbearable to wait, but all the options for the future before that had a bad ending. So now is the time. I've been looking forward to our meeting, Dr. Na”.

“Will there be a good ending now?” Jaemin asks.

Jeno chuckles and shrugs.

“I don’t know, it’s up to you.” He looks up at the door, which gently opens and Mark looks into the room. His eyes gleam with fright and look wide at Jaemin then at Jeno and back. “Oh, this is the scenario where Mark acts decisively and does not doubt himself, and we don’t have a moment to spare,” Jeno purses his lips, looking at Na, “sorry”.

Jaemin kicks Jeno under the table and he jumps up involuntarily as if he didn't expect it.

“Hey,” he grumbles.

“Mark?” Jaemin raises an eyebrow in interest, expecting at least some word from an embarrassed Lee.

“There… Donghyuck is here,” he says modestly. “I didn't want to interrupt you”.

“No, you did everything right, Mark,” Jaemin soothes him, and gets up. He traces his finger around the mess of food on the table and Jeno swallows the food hard. “The cleaner will pick up the trash in a few hours. Please, be aware, he can pick you up, too”.

"Sassy Dr. Na, I like it", Jeno smiles shamelessly.

“See you tomorrow,” Jaemin says, smiling softly as he prepares to leave.

“There's a facade! Stop!” Jeno grabs his palm and Jaemin feels it like he's falling into nowhere.

Physically he understands that his body is standing, and his eyes are open, but at the same time he feels as if he is out of space and time. As if he is in free fall, but without fear of dying. It seems to be a dream in which he travels through space, but his lungs are not bursting from the pressure and he can breathe calmly. The worst thing about this is not how his body feels, what he s _ ees _ is the main trouble. At first, it is as if he is listening to music, reading a book, and watching a film at one moment, managing to perceive all three things, but then one of them stands out, and he sees it as in a sphere.

Jaemin realizes that he is not a participant in the process, that this is not happening  _ literally _ to him and he also understands that what is happening is real - perhaps it has already happened once, or maybe still will happen. He sees his back - recognizes it from the tattoo - his body moves slowly and smoothly up and down as if sliding over something if he was watching porn with himself in the lead role. It is he - from the future or the past - who has sex with someone.

Jeno's hand lets go of Jaemin abruptly, he shakes off of him in fear, leaning on the cold mirror, looking in shock at the equally frightened Jeno.

“What is that?!” Jaemin breathes quickly, trying to calm it and his thoughts.

“I don’t know,” Jeno mutters in the same shocked tone. “What was it?”

“Did you see that?”

“Did you?”

“Stop answering with questions! What was it?!” Jaemin hovers over Jeno, slapping his hands on the table. Jeno only chuckles, grinning slyly, annoying Jaemin, clearly on purpose. “Answer!”

“Sorry,” he says, leading his shoulder and looking at him over defiantly.

“Is it the past or the future?” Jaemin would have grabbed his shirt, but the truth is, he's afraid to touch him again.

“Two more minutes and Donghyuck will be gone,” Jeno says, nodding to his watch. “There is a scenario where you miss him, there is where not, but in none of them I do answer your question”.

“Future or past?!” Jaemin yells.

"It's all reality to me", Jeno says with a grin. He's already glancing at the door, nervously tapping his foot.

"Jeno!” Jaemin yells pleadingly.

“You’ll understand,” Lee smiles. “Just remember the  _ details” _ .

“Why did you show me this? Why exactly this?!” Jaemin interrogates, feeling the excitement rising in his throat, as if time is running through his fingers, in fact in front of him is literally the one who controls this time.

“I wanted to,” Jeno says defiantly, glancing over Na and narrowing his eyes. “But it didn't lead to the scenario I wanted. Sixty seconds”.

Jaemin glances at his watch and then back to Jeno, who looks right through him again.

“Damn you”, he snorts and grabs his things off the table. “We're not done!”

"You will understand everything by our next meeting," Jeno smiles contentedly. “I hope”.

Jaemin snorts viciously and runs away, just in time to catch Donghyuck as he leaves the lab. Agent Lee turns to him, looking around with a lost look.

“Nice to see you,” Jaemin notes, smiling softly. “How were your free days?”

Donghyuck examines his face for a second, as if he doesn’t believe it’s really him, and then pulls him into the tight hug.

“I'm glad you're alive,” he says.

“Was I supposed to die?” Jaemin laughs, pressing his friend back. “Cigarettes?”

Donghyuck nods at his shoulder and turns to go outside.

“In one scenario,” Lee says, clutching a cigarette between his lips and handing the pack to Jaemin. They walk around the collapsed section of the facade and notice the police, who drive up to it to make sure no one is hurt. “You were dead in one of the scenarios, and he didn't say if I could change it or stop”.

“You talk just like him,” Jaemin chuckles and Donghyuck looks at him questioningly, inhaling the smoke.

“Jeno?” Donghyuck asks, and Jaemin nods. “Yes... he is- a strong guy,  _ human” _ .

“What did he show you?” Jaemin asks, licking his lips before taking a drag.

“Everything,” Donghyuck breathes. “One of the possible, worst-case scenarios. Showed my life from start to finish, then showed where my sister ran away with her fucking abusive boyfriend.” Donghyuck clenches and unclenches his wounded fist as if it reminds him of something. “It took me a week to find and return her to home. It's all thanks to him.” Donghyuck nods toward the building behind them. “Did he show you something?”

Jaemin shakes his head hurriedly, glad that his bright red neck burning with embarrassment cannot be seen in the streetlights. Donghyuck saw his whole life and saved his sister. Jaemin saw himself fucking with someone.

“He was showing something else, too,” Donghyuck grins conspiratorially as he glances at Jaemin.

“What?”

“How you cried over 'Me Before You'", Donghyuck laughs. “First over the film, and then over the book”.

“Fucking hell-” Jaemin covers his face with hand in shame.

“You said that your uncle died, so your eyes are red, bastard!” Donghyuck laughs lauder. “It's good that we now have Jeno, who will betray your lying ass”.

“He’s not talking to anyone but me, so,” Jaemin snorts, “you’ll have to try”.

Donghyuck smiles slyly again, taking one last, deep drag.

“For now,” he grins, eyes flashing as if he knows more than Jaemin himself.


	5. fifth dimensional

Jaemin spent two weeks with Shape and despite what Jeno did, he seemed like a very nice person. Lovely, but lonely, those who see the fate of all living beings in the universe and at the same time didn’t get close to anyone to give out his secret. Only a dog that he hated knew and in the end, he had to give him, because  _ "the time has come." _

“Time for what,” Jaemin grumbles. “To show me how I fucked? Just great. Thousands of lives depend on this for sure…”

He knew what he was going to write in the reports, knew that they would listen to him because Donghyuck would support him since Jeno helped him too. Someday they might find a way to extract strands of artificial nerves from his body if Jeno wants to but Jaemin feels like he's enjoying his gift. Especially with this  _ "ah, this is the scenario where you..." _ or  _ "oh, this is not the thread where you do it, sorry." _ His face every time at this moment looks like a sad puppy, but it so strangely warmed Jaemin's heart, as soon as he thinks about it, that he gets scared and immediately switches his thoughts to something else.

Well, maybe he'd better not do it.

There were only two things he cared about now: personal affection to Jeno after he is the one who spent almost two full working weeks with him, even on weekends he would come to the lab to bring him delicious food - “ _ not personal interest, just care” _ , he lies to himself - and the other thing was what Jeno showed him.

Jaemin is unable to sleep at night, replaying the memory in his head. It is strange, he did not even immediately realize that the person from the vision in front of him was he himself. Probably, if not for the tattoo, he would not have understood. It looked like he was in the body of who, or rather,  _ on whom _ he was. It’s a strange sensation like a whirlpool into which you are drawn, and you watch all this through the TV and at the same time you are the TV. Jaemin flinches, remembering, and trying to grasp it.

He plays memories over and over, embarrassed, ashamed, but forcing himself to remember it as torture. It was a room unknown to him, he had never been to one before, and the tattoo on the back of his head had appeared after his last boyfriend. It's definitely the future, but then why did Jeno show this particular scene? What he was trying to say.  _ Details _ ...

Feeling as if something happened to him that has not happened yet, deja vu, only it is too real for him. He turns over on his side, examining the clock, the hands of which stopped at 6:50. He has ten minutes before waking up. It’s just fine, he didn’t sleep that night.

He would like to experience once again what Jeno lives through every day. He would like to know with whom he would share eternity because Jeno admitted that he experiences only two feelings - affection and love. For Jaemin it was a single concept. Does this mean Jeno already has it all? Or does he know that he will have it because of the ability?

A fit of slight jealousy sucks in the stomach because he would like to be that person. Jeno is a kind, sensitive and caring person, with eyes that sparkle with affection in one glance. If he never talks to anyone, so Jaemin has the best chances, of course. But…

Na closes his eyes in one last attempt, but the picture is again in front of his eyes. He recalls how his body moved, slowly and languidly, up and down, he liked to be on top, he liked to control, no wonder, nothing unnatural, just he, but this time, playing this memory, he no longer looks at himself, he examines his hand trying to remember what the  _ hand _ that rested on his hip looked like, just the last second remembering how Jeno cut him off.

“Fuck,” Jaemin kicks out of bed, dropping his cold feet onto the hot floor. “God, you're a Ph.D. and dumb as a cork, Na”.

It always seemed to him as something stupid to scold himself, especially when he spoke out loud, but it always helped him to calm down, education of himself.

Jeno, of course, it was  _ Jeno _ \- the guy he had sex with. That is why Shape appeared in his life only now, not the day before when they were looking for him as the main enemy - he immediately won Donghyuck's trust when he told about his sister. Without Hyuck the only one who would likely talk with him is Jaemin. Renjun is too cruel to creatures and Mark, on the contrary, is timid. The two of them were forbidden to talk to the creatures like Shape, so Donghyuck always interrogated them, but he would never let Jeno touch him in his life. And when agent Haechan is not there, Jaemin is satisfied with the interrogation, as the only competent one, even if he had no experience in this.

In the end, Jeno may have deeper  _ universal _ reasons, for example, if he came earlier, then some bird died, its feather fell and, like the butterfly effect, a large-scale tornado erased some island from the face of the Earth.

Jaemin cleans himself up but still arrives at work almost an hour early. Grabs a robe from the hanger and heads straight to 3B where Jeno was. He stops in front of the door, peering through a small window above. Of course, Jeno is already waiting for him, sitting at his desk in his usual position, legs stretched out forward.

“Good morning,” Shape tells him as Jaemin opens the doors. “You slept badly, after all. There was a scenario where you fall asleep, but I am glad because you would not have understood and all of this would have been delayed”.

Jeno smiles at him softly.  _ All of what? _ Jaemin couldn’t understand him. No matter how much they talked, how long Jeno had looked at him, timidly dropping his eyelashes. He couldn’t understand what kind of emotion it was with warmth in his eyes, but now he noticed it outline.

“Was there a scenario where we don't fuck, but I suck you off?” Jaemin asks, folding his arms over his chest, Jeno laughs deeply as he puts his hand to his heart.

“A lot,” he smiles, “a couple of million. But my hands are everywhere, so you would immediately understand everything, and it would not be so interesting".

“Hands?” Jaemin asks, Jeno shrugs.

“I love… I  _ will  _ love your hair, you know,” he grins. “Squeeze and pull”.

“Oh-oh,” Na can't help but groan. “Why you did not just say?”

“Because you wouldn't fall in love with me if I said it right away,” Jeno notes sadly.

“And now I'm in love?” Jaemin chuckles.

“I don’t know,” Jeno shrugs again. “Are you in love?”

It takes Jaemin a couple of seconds to think. He looks up at the perfectly white walls and then at Jeno again, whose lips stretch in a satisfied smile.

“Yes” he nods and lowers his hands, heading towards Jeno, who hesitates in his place.

“I hope,” Jeno manages to say as Jaemin is on him already, “this is not the scenario where we fall off the chair…”

Jaemin shut him up, leaning in for a kiss, but feels the world do an incomprehensible somersault. Jeno's hands tightly press his head to his chest, protecting him from the fall.

“Fuck,” Jaemin breathes, knees hitting the floor painfully.

“It’s the one, after all,” Jeno whimpers, rubbing the back of his head that he hit in the fall.

“What is the next scenario?” Jaemin asks interestedly, examining Jeno's face so close that he can see every wrinkle, freckle, and those loving eyes that can see through eternity, but instead look at him.

“This one,” Jeno smiles and covers his lips once more. “Always this one”.

Because there are three unchanging things in human life: birth, growing up, and death. And fourth one: when Jeno Lee, the weapon of mass destruction meets Jaemin Na, the only one he'll talk to because Jaemin must fall in love with him in the best scenarios of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well hello........... actually I have a lot of fanfiction for translation but I will work on it only if more people will be alright with my level of English and interested in it. thanks for reading btw!! I only now had time to post a full work, sorry :(


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